Poring Over Readers’ Letters of Generosity

Jeanne C. Barney of West Hollywood writes:

In the pass-it-on spirit of Alcoholics Anonymous, of which I have been a clean and sober member for 10 1/2 years, I have a quad cane (“the kind that stands on its own four feet”) which I will happily pass on to Chris Sylbert.

I used it for only a short while last year, following a six-month hospitalization for injuries suffered in the January earthquake--and I would be delighted to see it go to a good home.

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Jeanne Barney had been standing on a three-foot-tall stool, photographing her damaged chimney for insurance purposes when an aftershock struck. “I went down-- splat-- on the driveway,” she explained on the phone.

I had called her not only to tell her thanks, but also to notify her she was an also-ran in the donation derby. Barney, who has recovered from a fractured pelvis and other injuries, was the fifth reader to offer a quad cane to Christopher Sylbert. Another reader called to recommend a medication available in France. And a woman named Pamela asked me to pass along her phone number to Chris. It seems they dated nearly 20 years ago, and she wanted to say hi.

Isn’t it nice when people are nice? Chris Sylbert and his wife, Tina, wanted me to say thanks to all the well-wishers out there.

Sylbert, you may recall, is a nightclub comic, the reigning champ of the L.A. Cabaret’s “Funniest Person in the Valley” contest. He’s also battling multiple sclerosis--and battling to participate in clinical trials for a new medication called Copolymer I. A recent column described a benefit to honor him and help pay medical bills. Many of the performers and guests are, like Chris and Tina, veterans of programs such as Narcotics Anonymous, Cocaine Anonymous and Alcoholics Anonymous.

Because it is an experimental treatment, insurance doesn’t cover Copolymer I. It is estimated to cost patients about $7,500 per year. The benefit raised about $5,000. The more important question is whether Chris will qualify for the trials.

That’s where the quad cane comes in. Guidelines for Copolymer I trials require patients to be able to walk with a cane. Chris long ago abandoned his old cane for a metal walker. One mention of Chris’ desire to try the quad model inspired folks like Mary Eagle, Evelynn Brown, Henry Weiner and Shelly Friedman to make offers.

Friedman, who used his quad cane while recovering from a stroke, became the donor by virtue of proximity. He resides in Woodland Hills, the Sylberts in North Hollywood.

I’ll try to keep you posted on Chris Sylbert’s fortunes. But since generosity is today’s theme, let’s move on to some other helpful readers.

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Sondra Levi-Zeldin of Kennedy High School in Granada Hills writes:

My Spanish class loved your Spanish-- “Escuchen, y repeten.” They guessed you forgot that escuchar is an “-ar verb” and repetir is an “-ir verb” with an “i stem change” in the present tense and in the command form. As your “old Spanish teacher” probably said, “Escuchan, y repiten”; or maybe she commanded, “Escuchen y repitan!”

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Whatever you say, teach.

Two other readers also sought to correct my shoddy translation of “listen and repeat” in a recent column. In addition to Levi-Zeldin’s elaborate critique, Mario Flores of Cudahy insisted that repiten would be correct, while Gerry Fallon, from somewhere in cyberspace, suggested that repitan is correct. Dueling corrections!

Flores’ tone was more combative than constructive: A staff writer has done it again. In trying to be cute and use the Spanish language in their comments, they’ve blotched their attempts. (He probably meant “botched.” Maybe it’s a typo.)

He continues: Had you consulted anyone faintly familiar with the Spanish language they would have knocked you over the head and told you its repiten , not repeten. (Not to be picky, but the contraction of it is requires an apostrophe; its is the possessive of it . Perhaps it’s another typo.)

Back to Flores: Which leads me to the point I’m trying to make: With so few Hispanic writers at The Times, I can see how you had no one to turn to. If you don’t know the language, don’t use it. Or better yet, why doesn’t The Times hire more Hispanic writers? You’ll then have somebody to turn to.

Usually, I clean up a letter writer’s grammar, but this time I wasn’t feeling so generous.

Truth is, I had misspelled this tricky conjugation of repiter in yet another manner before two editors, both orally fluent in Spanish, conspired to mis-correct it. (The buck starts here.) It seems relevant to note that one of these editors is a Latino who once worked for the Hispanic Link News Service in Washington, and the other is a white guy who for several years worked as a correspondent in Mexico City.

I’ve since checked with more reliable sources, including staffers of Nuestro Tiempo, The Times’ Spanish-language weekly. It is now clear that, inasmuch as my usage was as an instruction to a group, the command, or imperativo, verb form is appropriate. Thus, “Escuchen y repitan” would have been the proper choice. Moreover, as Levi-Zeldin suggests, if Flores’ choice of repiten had been the appropriate form and tense, then he would also be obliged to use escuchan , not escuchen.

It’s so nice to get that all cleared up.

All of which brings to mind another recent letter, this one in response to a column that concerned the politically correct tone that could be found within a media guide concerning minority groups. I addressed a pet peeve--the strident and rather ungenerous argumentation that the word Oriental, in reference to people, is not just an imprecise and archaic synonym for Asian, but is a Eurocentric slur that, as one of the guidebook’s authors put it, is “only acceptable when referring to rugs.”

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Tim Elliott of North Hollywood writes:

Before letting my wife read your article I asked her what nationality she was. She looked at me puzzled and said, “American.” She is Sansei (3rd generation) Japanese. I said, “Well, what ‘group’ are you included in.” She said, “Japanese, Japanese American, the smallest minority in the U.S., but we’re not considered a minority because we’re too well assimilated.” I asked her if the term Oriental bothered her. She said no. Then I informed her that she should be offended since it was imposed on her by non-Asians. She said, “That’s stupid.” I told her that Oriental is only acceptable when referring to rugs--she laughed.

I guess the “word” hasn’t gotten around to all Orientals, at least not to our house. I’d sure hate to be a salesman for “political correctness.” I can remember when calling an African American a “black” was a borderline racial slur. Myself, I’m Anglo-Saxon, according to my mom. I think I prefer the term Earthling or maybe Earthman. What do you think?

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Earthling, definitely.

Then again, maybe that’s being a bit too planet-centric.

Scott Harris’ column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays.